World Leaders on the Ball! A Collection of Autographed Baseballs

Description:
The Cradle of Aviation Museum will be exhibiting a large portion of the internationally recognized Randy L. Kaplan Collection of autographed baseballs from world leaders and heads of state from September 27 through November 8 to coincide with the World Series and the 2016 presidential elections. The exhibit is free with museum admission.

World Leaders on the Ball! features over 180 signed baseballs from leaders, both past and present, from all over the globe, including the late South African President Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama and former leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher. The exhibit will also include a timely collection of balls signed by 2016 presidential candidates Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. Come check out the collection, have a great debate and vote for your favorite!

The Randy L. Kaplan Collection of signed baseballs from world leaders and heads of state brings together the love of collecting autographs from global leaders on what can only be described as an icon of American culture – the baseball! Kaplan, who is a governmental affairs specialist in New York, has been collecting signed baseballs from world leaders and heads of state since 1996 when then President Bill Clinton signed a baseball for him at a meeting in Washington, D.C.

According to Kaplan, “The collection has taken on a life of its own. Almost everyone who I ask is honored to sign a baseball. It is as if every political figure secretly yearned to be a professional ballplayer, at least that is what most of them tell me!”

Randy’s collection has been exhibited at: the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa in 2015; the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas in 2014; the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California in 2014; the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2012 and at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2008.

The Cradle is home to over 75 air and spacecraft, a full dome theater and planetarium and is located on Charles Lindbergh Blvd. in East Garden City. Operating hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am-5:00 pm.